Developing QAA-based retrieval model of total suspended matter concentration in Itumbiara reservoir, Brazil

High concentrations of total suspended matter (TSM) reduce water clarity which can affect photosynthesis of submerged aquatic vegetation, thereby affecting oxygen production which is essential to aquatic organisms at upper levels in the food chain. The aim of this work was to evaluate the use of Landsat-8 Operational Land Imager (OLI) sensor to estimate total suspended matter (TSM) concentrations in the Itumbiara hydroelectric reservoir (IHR), Midwest Brazil. A TSM model was obtained based on the particle backscattering at 561 nm. The calibrated model, based on the particle backscattering derived from the Quase-Analytical Algorithm (QAA), TSM = (1.2265e
^-7.197xb
_bp561
^)+ξ
, shown an R
²
= 0.69. The validation shown an R
²
= 0.63, %RMSE = 2.90 and a mean bias of -0.37 mg L
^-1
.